Overview
The Gospel for Today is a compilation based on the four Gospels of the New Testament that can be used for devotional reading. Here’s how it was assembled:
1) This compilation attempts to answer the following questions: If you were going to share the Gospel story with someone today, how would you tell it? All four of the Gospel writers chose to tell the story of Jesus in different ways for a specific audience. If you had the same chance, what would you include? How would you order things? What’s most important to share?
2) All material comes from the four Gospels. No other books of the Bible were included. No wording was changed. Capitalization and punctuation were modified if a story was moved, a verse was cut in the middle, etc.
3) One version of the Bible was used throughout to keep the text from the four different stories as cohesive as possible. The NIV was chosen for its balance of readability, familiarity, and technical accuracy.
4) Theology was considered more important than chronology. The Gospel writers didn’t relate the same stories in the same order, so some stories have been rearranged to accentuate certain teachings.
5) Since chapter numbers and verse numbers were not in the original text, those have been removed, and new chapter divisions have been added that read more like a modern book. The chapter titles are quotes from within the chapter that help illuminate the meaning.
6) Not all stories are included. Stories about people like John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Lazarus, and Peter have been scaled back so that the story feels more focused like a biography of the life of Jesus. If multiple examples of similar miracles or teachings exist, the ones that might have the greatest impact on a modern reader were selected. Some dialogue was compressed when the point could still be made effectively in fewer words.
7) As with the original Gospels, the starting and ending points shape the narrative. For instance, The Gospel of Matthew starts with a genealogy that focuses on Abraham (all nations would be blessed through him) and King David (his descendent would rule forever). It finishes with the Great Commission where Jesus reveals that all authority has been given to him and that his followers should go to all the nations. This compilation starts with the faith of Mary and finishes with the faith struggle of Thomas while highlighting the different responses to Jesus throughout the narrative.
